Supplementing according to Repashy calcium plus directions?

[Digs]

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So I know it's not recommended here to supplement with Repashy calcium plus every feeding but what exactly would happen if one were to follow said directions on the bottle? has anyone experienced any negative reactions from their geckos doing this?

[Elizabeth Freer]

So I know it's not recommended here to supplement with Repashy calcium plus every feeding but what exactly would happen if one were to follow said directions on the bottle? has anyone experienced any negative reactions from their geckos doing this?

May I ask why you'd wish to?

Thing is instructions like that are highly dependent upon feeding frequency. For instance, hatchlings may eat daily (although smaller portions), while most adults from 18 months old may only eat 2x per week.

Maybe @acpart knows. She's been using Repashy's Calcium Plus for ages.

[Digs]

I still have some Repashy calcium plus and Asia is exposing herself to the 10.0 bulb longer than I expected. Problem is that I don’t have a solar meter to tell how much uv rays are reaching her in the areas she likes to expose herself so I don’t know if I really want to go back to the uvb supplementing schedule. Repashy calcium plus has been tested by breeders and pet owners with animals either without uvb or with uvb without any adverse effects. Plus I don’t think I’ll be able to finish the zoomed supplements Before their expiration date. I don’t want nothing but pure calcium just cluttering up in storage from buying calcium with d3 that’s going to expire.

[Elizabeth Freer]

I still have some Repashy calcium plus and Asia is exposing herself to the 10.0 bulb longer than I expected. Problem is that I don’t have a solar meter to tell how much uv rays are reaching her in the areas she likes to expose herself so I don’t know if I really want to go back to the uvb supplementing schedule. Repashy calcium plus has been tested by breeders and pet owners with animals either without uvb or with uvb without any adverse effects. Plus I don’t think I’ll be able to finish the zoomed supplements Before their expiration date. I don’t want nothing but pure calcium just cluttering up in storage from buying calcium with d3 that’s going to expire.

At some level we need "to trust" a leo's efforts self-regulating their UVB intake. I'd let Asia do her thing with the UVB you had been offering. These guidelines were offered specifically for @Marillion's leo by Dr. Fran Baines in Reptile Lighting's facebook group. Fran is a top-notch expert in her field!!! As long as you're following those, Asia should be good.

• 20 long enclosure: 30 x 12 x 12 inches tall
• + Zoo Med's ReptiSun UVB 10.0 mini-compact fluorescent bulb
• + UVB bulb perpendicular to enclosure over the warm end
• + 8.5 inch diameter shallow dome fixture for the UVB bulb
• As the backup D3 dose @ 1 feeding per month just offer Repashy's Calcium Plus multivitamins (which contains cholecalciferol -- D3) in place of Zoo Med's Reptivite multivitamins withOUT D3 that week, if you run out of Zoo Med's Repti Calcium with D3.

Asia probably needs the UVB she had getting. Dr. Baines only recommends a backup D3 dose @ 1 feeding per month -- just as a preventative. Many keepers safely use UVB without owning a Solarmeter 6.5 or 6.5R.

[acpart]

I think one important question with how often to dust feeders is whether the gecko tends to eat the feeders right away, or to wait for awhile until the feeders may have groomed all the calcium off themselves. Of course, if there grooming the calcium off, are they ingesting it and it's still available to the gecko? I have no idea. I am much more of a seat of the pants caregiver than a strict schedule one (though I do have a schedule so I can be sure every one of my 52 reptiles is getting fed) so if I found it easier to dust with Repashy at every feeding, I'd probably do so. I think the geckos would still be getting less supplement than they would if a bottle cap of it were left in the enclosure all the time.

Aliza

[Digs]

At some level we need "to trust" a leo's efforts self-regulating their UVB intake. I'd let Asia do her thing with the UVB you had been offering. These guidelines were offered specifically for @Marillion's leo by Dr. Fran Baines in Reptile Lighting's facebook group. Fran is a top-notch expert in her field!!! As long as you're following those, Asia should be good.

• 20 long enclosure: 30 x 12 x 12 inches tall
• + Zoo Med's ReptiSun UVB 10.0 mini-compact fluorescent bulb
• + UVB bulb perpendicular to enclosure over the warm end
• + 8.5 inch diameter shallow dome fixture for the UVB bulb
• As the backup D3 dose @ 1 feeding per month just offer Repashy's Calcium Plus multivitamins (which contains cholecalciferol -- D3) in place of Zoo Med's Reptivite multivitamins withOUT D3 that week, if you run out of Zoo Med's Repti Calcium with D3.

Asia probably needs the UVB she had getting. Dr. Baines only recommends a backup D3 dose @ 1 feeding per month -- just as a preventative. Many keepers safely use UVB without owning a Solarmeter 6.5 or 6.5R.

I actually use the zoomed naturalistic terrarium hood is this ok?
https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Natur.../dp/B001HW7ZS0

[Digs]

I think one important question with how often to dust feeders is whether the gecko tends to eat the feeders right away, or to wait for awhile until the feeders may have groomed all the calcium off themselves. Of course, if there grooming the calcium off, are they ingesting it and it's still available to the gecko? I have no idea. I am much more of a seat of the pants caregiver than a strict schedule one (though I do have a schedule so I can be sure every one of my 52 reptiles is getting fed) so if I found it easier to dust with Repashy at every feeding, I'd probably do so. I think the geckos would still be getting less supplement than they would if a bottle cap of it were left in the enclosure all the time.

Aliza

That’s why many zoos and reptile nutritionist find it important to use a 24-48 hour formal gut-load diet. Insects will groom supplements off but I don’t know if the calcium will act like a formal gut-load when they groom it off. There was a zoo that gut loaded their insects with a mixture of fresh vegetables and Mazuri tortoise diet and quite a few insectivores we’re beginning to suffer the early stages of MBD though I don’t know what supplements they were using. The problem with using a 24/7 maintenance diet as replacement for a formal gut-load is that the insect will just digest all of the nutrition in the diet and it will simply be adding to the feeder’s muscle mass instead of increasing calcium to optimal levels in the feeder. Formal gut-load such as Repashy bug burger, super load, Mazuri hi calcium gut-loading diet and better bug contain 4 to 9% calcium that’s fine enough to where the feeder doesn’t just skip over it to eat smaller sized pieces of the diet. When they eat the diets listed above their bodies will be able to absorb some of the calcium while some remain in the gut. That’s why in my personal opinion the best thing to do is to combine formal gut-load with dusting so all variables that would cause the reptile to receive less supplements are reduced.

[Elizabeth Freer]

I actually use the zoomed naturalistic terrarium hood is this ok?
https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Natur.../dp/B001HW7ZS0

Please post a photo of this hood's underneath side just for me.

Does the socket hold the bulb perpendicular to the enclosure?

[Digs]

5990B322-9814-4396-A683-298715A5D5CA.jpg

[Digs]

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According to Dr. Fran Baines compact bulbs can be pretty useful in fixtures such as the one above.